North Salem’s Duck Hill, home of Page Dickey and Francis Schell, was open April 28 and will be open again to visitors Sunday, May 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Duck Hill is a series of hedged-in gardens surrounding a 19th-century farmhouse, including an herb garden, a white garden and a crabapple courtyard. There is a woodland walk, a small meadow, a lap pool with a rose pergola, and a vegetable/cutting garden with a Greek Revival-style chicken house. Gardening expert Page Dickey described Duck Hill in two of her books, “Embroidered Ground” and “Duck Hill Journal.”
Lewisboro’s White Garden, also open April 28, will be open again Sept. 8. The White Garden was designed in 1999 by award-winning landscape architect, Patrick Chassé. The gardens that surround the Greek Revival-style house are classically inspired, while elsewhere there is a conservatory “jungle” garden and an Asian-inspired moss garden.
A Temple of Apollo overlooks the reflecting pond, home to a family of swans. Sculptures lend texture and grace to the landscape, while woodland paths meander over brooks and through the oak-hickory thicket. In the spring, more than 200,000 daffodils bloom in the woodland. Head gardener, Eric Schmidt, will be on hand to answer questions.
A schedule of local gardens that will open as the season progresses follows:
May 5
- North Salem: Page Dickey and Francis Schell’s Duck Hill
- Mount Kisco: Gardens of Judy and Michael Steinhardt
May 18
- North Salem: Perrin Garden, North Salem
May 25
- Chappaqua: Rocky Hills (Garden of William and Henriette Suhr)
- Chappaqua: Gardens of Shobha Vanchiswar and Murali Mani
June 2
- South Salem: Fish/Marquez Gardens
- North Salem: Keeler Hill Farm
- North Salem: Page Dickey and Francis Schell’s Duck Hill
- Cortlandt Manor: Gardens of Vivian and Ed Merrin
- Ridgefield, Conn.: The Barlow Mountain Garden of Helen Dimos & Benjamin Oko
June 23
- Ridgefield, Conn.: Garden of Ken and Margaret Uhle
June 30
- North Salem: The Hen and the Hive
July 28
- Cortlandt Manor: Gardens of Vivian and Ed Merrin
- Bedford Hills: Gardens of Phillis Warden
Aug. 10
- Pleasantville: Gardens of Jean and John Nonna
Sept. 8
- Lewisboro: The White Garden
- North Salem: Dick Button’s Ice Pond Farm
Oct. 19
- Chappaqua: Rocky Hills (Garden of William and Henriette Suhr)
Nov. 2
- Mount Kisco: Gardens of Judy and Michael Steinhardt
For more information about purchasing tickets, a complete schedule of 2013 Open Days and directions to the gardens, go to the website or call The Garden Conservancy weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 888-842-2442.
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